Art Materials & Tools

In addition to the year-end review I discussed in the previous blog post, the new year also prompts me to reorganize my studio. One of the ways I do this is to segregate unfinished pastel paintings into three categories: will finish, might finish, and time to let go. Paintings that may have been in the “will finish” pile one year often end up in the “time to let go” pile after a year of neglect. It isn’t that they don’t have any merit and could even be completed to a satisfactory outcome; it is that the inspiration and motivation to do so has been lost. After considerable time passes, every painter needs to realize that he or she has changed. What inspired, and the methods and technical abilities employed then, has been left to the past. It is time to look to the future. Full Article

In last week’s blog, I discussed various substrates commonly used by pastelists when making their own pastel grit-ground. Once a suitable surface has been selected, it’s time to apply the ground. There are three components that make up a homemade grit-ground: the “binder” that acts as the glue holding the grit to the substrate; the “grit” that is the source of texture; and “water” that is used to affect the viscosity of the ground. Full Article

With the number of commercially available pastel surfaces on the market today, many pastelists find little need to make their own. It has become somewhat of a lost art. When I began working in the medium, this was not the case. Outside of Canson Mi-Teintes, there was nothing being manufactured specifically for pastel, especially if you wanted a gritty, sanded surface. The only choice was to compromise archival standards by using commercial-grade sandpaper (which is not pH-neutral) or to make our own with a grit recipe. These homemade surfaces consisted of three major components: the Substrate, the Binder and the Grit. Full Article

The most frequently asked questions during painting demonstrations concern the make-up of an artist’s palette. It may be artistic inquisitiveness or subconscious insecurity that prompts the inquiry but most of us are curious nevertheless. Possibly it holds the key to a more successful outcome for us, and who wouldn’t want that? Full Article